After the End
by LifeNDeath72
Summary: He's been wandering the post-apocalyptic world. Alone. When he finally reaches the final fortress of humanity, Fenrir. He will take up their blade and slay the monstrous opposition: The Aragami and prevent the extinction of humankind. Sharingan-Naruto. Naruto/Alisa
1. Welcome to Fenrir

**A Fox among Gods**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or God Eater Burst.**

(1st Person Perspective)

It's been a few years since I first arrived in this hellish world. I remember when I was still a loudmouthed brat that always said 'I'll be Hokage' someday. Now, such a dream is so far beyond my reach, it wasn't even funny.

I had no way of going back, and throughout my years out there in the desolate open world, I only had three things of my old world still with me.

One, the necklace Tsunade-baa-chan gave to me.

Two, my sealed furry companion, The Kyubi no Yoko.

Three, the cursed eyes of the Uchiha clan.

Yes, all three had a special story attached. But the ones you might be interested in are the latter two. Let's start with the Kyubi. As his name says, he's a large Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, with beautiful, fuzzy, orange fur. He'd sooner eat you, rather than let you touch him though.

He attacked my home village of Konoha, 19 years ago. My father, the Fourth Hokage, sealed half of him into me. I learned about my parents, when I nearly lost my hope at the age of 16. But he, my father I mean, arrived and stopped me from succumbing to the Kyubi's tempting offers. My mother appeared shortly after, together they helped me take the Kyubi's chakra, which bathed me in golden flames. They did most of the work, since I barely had anything other than what I only know. We talked a little bit after that and they wished for me to keep trying to live and I did. The last thing they said to me was how proud they were of me and that they love me, and before I left the confines of my mind, I promised the Kyubi that I would find a way to help him deal with his hatred.

The eyes, well for you to understand that, you'll need to find out how I came to this world in the first place. Long story short, my best friend tried to kill me as he was leaving the village. I understood a little though, but I never liked his choice. We did battle in the site of where our village's founders once did. He won, an electrified hand through my chest. I was slipping out of consciousness, but the last thing I saw was his horrified face and his eyes went from three tomoe to three intersecting ellipses.

When I woke up, thanks to my furry companion, I saw that my vision was clear. Clearer than normal, despite my previous death-like state. When I looked at the surface of the river I woke up near to, I saw my usual blue eyes, were now a blood-red and one spinning tomoe in each.

Naturally, I asked Kyubi to explain. He said it was possible that one of my closer ancestors was an Uchiha. At first, I was ecstatic. That maybe, I can finally convince Sasuke to come back, now that I knew we were somewhat like family. That was until I experienced that I was no longer home or in my world at all.

It was a creature I and most likely no-one ever saw before. A large quadruped, black-lion thing with a yellow cape and an evil face. At first when I saw it, I thought it was an animal summon. Only, to my horror, it definitely wasn't. I watched it from a distance, hunting who knows what, but then I saw it devour humans. Well, safe to say, I stayed the hell away.

Over the three years after my initial arrival, I trained in what I know. I tried my best to survive with survival skills I had to develop on the spot. I trained in the usage of my eyes, eventually gaining the famed Mangekyou Sharingan. I learned that constant usage of its techniques rendered the user blind, so I struck a deal with Kyubi. He removes the degradation, I keep both of us alive. A simple deal, one he agreed to provided I did not use the eyes on him. My normal techniques barely worked on the creatures larger than the rampant biped. So I had to fall back on the big three of the Mangekyou, to at least escape with my life intact.

Eventually I came upon a large walled-settlement, humanity's last stand against the creatures that ate anything and everything. As much as I wanted to remain anonymous, I needed both information and a purpose to keep surviving. And judging by my stench at the time, a bath and a change of clothes as well.

I learned that the place I was in was called the Far-East Branch of Fenrir, formerly a pharmaceutical corporation. Now the only company capable of fighting the creatures called Aragami.

As standard protocol, all new survivors are to register within their database to see if they could be matched as a God Arc wielder, The God Eaters. The only ones who could fight the Aragami. Well, other than me of course. They do nearly anything that involves going to the outside world, i.e. beyond the walls, supply runs, nest exterminations, hunting, research gathering, survivor searches and all that jazz.

They also had a great dream. One even I could share someday, to complete Aegis Island, where the survivors of humanity can finally be at ease. I know not everyone will be at ease, The God Eaters would still need to fight, after all. But a place where life could grow and children could play, is a place I'm willing to sacrifice my life for.

My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and welcome to After the End.

(End 1st Person Perspective)

* * *

The City of Mercy, aptly named due to the run-down cathedral perched upon its center. It was the most common field map for missions, due to its abundance in supplies…

…and Aragami.

What was once a bustling city in a time long gone, was now a derelict metropolis. Filled to the brim with holes from the Aragami's taste-tests. At this moment a small mission was in progress, consisting of the First Unit of the God Eater response team. It was a three-man cell. Consisting of two young men and a young woman.

The first male had black hair that reached his neck and covered some of his face. He had black eyes and fair skin. He wore a black short-sleeved, zip-up shirt and gray pants tucked into dark brown combat boots with yellow laces. Over that was an open brown short-sleeve coat with a gold zipper and the Fenrir logo on the back in a similar color. His black full-gloved hands were holding a large red and black chainsaw blade that had a fold-able shield. His God Arc: The Blood Surge Long Blade and the Evader Shield. This was Lindow Amamiya, Leader of the First Unit.

The second male was a dark-skinned blonde with gray eyes. He had a yellow button-up shirt with a black tie. His pants were baggy and black in color with dark gray running shoes. He also had a dark blue hoodie that had the hood up and matching finger-less gloves. In his hands was a black and olive-green saw blade with a matching fold-able shield. His God Arc: The Evil One Buster Blade and the Rejector Tower Shield. This was Soma.

The woman was fair-skinned and had black hair in a bob cut and reddish-brown eyes. She wore a black top with green criss-crossing straps, black short shorts and a long black sarong skirt that only went on one side, it also had green frills at the end. She had a brown pouch strapped to her waist and wore black closed heels on her feet. She also wore a below-elbow length olive-green glove on her left hand that had brown straps that held a long rifle. Her God Arc: The Stella Swarm Sniper Gun. This was Sakuya Tachibana.

They hid behind a wall with a large opening as they waited for their target to appear. No one said a word as a large slate-colored tiger with a red cape and large tusks made its way to the fallen pile of Aragami, ready to feast. Once it was dining in its latest meal, the three left their hiding place and engaged the Aragami in combat, the monster roaring at the interruption.

(A little later)

"Hey, it's a rare one." Lindow said as the jaws receded from his God Arc and the core flashed.

"To the victor go the spoils, as they say." Sakuya said as she approached him. Soma was currently ignoring them in favor of keeping watch.

"I bet Old Man Sakaki would have a fit over this." Lindow joked.

"Now, if they'd only get us some reinforcements." Sakuya muttered. The three began to head back to the extraction point. "Let's head back. I'm starving!"

"What kind of rations are they serving today?" Sakuya asked Lindow, since he was a high-ranking officer.

"Huh, actually that came up on the last food supply meeting." Lindow had a thoughtful expression on his face. "Got it! We're having a new type of corn!"

"What!? You mean that giant corn-on-the-cob again?" Sakuya had a disappointed look on her face. "But that's so hard to chew…"

"Hey, times are hard. You should be grateful you're getting fed at all!" Lindow reprimanded.

"Hey, Soma." Sakuya turned to their third teammate. "I'll trade you. What do you say?"

"No way." Soma replied bluntly.

"Hey, come on you guys!" Lindow said as the chopper slowly descended. "You wanna be left behind?" The two continued walking and boarded the chopper, eager to get back home.

* * *

"Director, we've found a possible match for a New-Type God Eater in the database." A woman's voice came in through an intercom.

"I see. What's his name?" Johannes von Schicksal, the Director of the Fenrir, Far-East Branch asked as he tapped on the computer on his desk to access the file.

He was a blonde pale-skinned man with gray eyes. He wore a white overcoat with an upturned collar and a black cravat. Behind that was the Fenrir logo. Under his overcoat was a dark purple untucked button-up shirt. He had black slacks and dark brown loafers. On his hands were a pair of black gloves. He looked over the file with a calculating eye.

"Hmm…" Johannes began. "Let's get him down here to take the aptitude test."

* * *

To some, the Fenrir building also known as 'The Den', was a symbol. A symbol of hope for humanity that they would be able to survive the slowly approaching extinction.

But to one blonde-haired, blue-eyed, whisker-marked young man it was a way for him to be able to help others more effectively. He was always the type to put others before himself, it's the reason he fervently tried saving as many humans as he can while he was still out of the wall.

There weren't many jobs available other than those given by Fenrir, so most of the regular population was unemployed, himself included.

Until now.

He got a call earlier that he was a possible match for being a God Eater. Naturally he was ecstatic. He got ready and made his way to The Den and he took some time to give a silent offering of thanks to the ones who protected this world's humankind. He wasn't fanatically loyal, but he always took a shine to those who helped others.

He was now standing inside one of the training rooms where 'The Aptitude Test' was supposed to take place.

He has grown up a lot since his battle with Sasuke at The Final Valley. His sun-kissed blonde hair was still in a messy array of spikes with two in particular looking like horns. There were some spiky bangs above his face, but did not obscure his vision. His blue eyes were now refilled with shining optimism that was once lost. His skin still had a light tan and his face was mostly angular now, due to all those years by himself on the road. His whisker marks were still present, giving him a slightly wild look. He stood at least a solid 6'0", a sharp contrast to his old height. He had a body fit for running, despite the rationing of food.

He wore a short-sleeved, black button-up shirt that had the top two buttons undone and was untucked. Resting on his neck was a loose orange tie and the First Hokage's green necklace. He wore a simple black belt to hold up his khaki pants that had three black straps on each leg that went up to the near-visible crease. His shoes were jet-black with similar laces. Over his shirt was a long-sleeved, short red jacket with black bands on the waist area, black shoulders and black lining on the lapels, and the Fenrir logo in the back in gold. Most of the buttons on the outfit were also gold and his sleeves were rolled up, his hands also had full black gloves on it.

He took a few steps forward and heard a voice coming through speakers. "Sorry to have kept you waiting so long." Director Johannes said. "Now then, let me welcome you... to humankind's last fortress, Fenrir…"

Naruto already knew about that, but chose not to interrupt. He heard the Director tell him to relax since he would get better results that way. He was instructed to stand in front of the case in the middle of the room. He walked up in front of it and he heard the Director tell him he only need put his hand on the handle and the rest would do it self.

"_So this is going to be my God Arc, huh?"_ Naruto looked over the Aragami-slaying weapon with an amazed look. _"Needs some orange, but it'll do."_

The blade was simple and looked a lot like the medieval-era cast-iron broadswords. It had two silver edges combining into a sharp tip. The flat side was colored black. He could see the shrinkable gun that looked like a military mini-gun and the foldable shield was round that had a cross-like design and some diagonal sides on its outer rim. It was predominantly in a black and silver color scheme.

He placed his hand over the hilt and then suddenly, the top of the case slammed down on his wrist as it began matching him with the bracelet that will supply him with the Bias Factor needed to prevent his God Arc from eating him. He only gave a slight wince at the sudden display, but heeded the Director's words and kept himself relaxed.

Once the process was finished, the case opened up and Naruto pulled out his hand, he saw the God Arc inject a black tentacle coming from the yellow core, into an opening in his bracelet. It glowed for a little as it died down. He gave the weapon a few practice swings before putting on a grin.

"Congratulations." The Director said over the microphone. "You are the first of the Far-East Branch's 'New-Type' God Eaters." The Director continued to tell him that he will need to have a medical check-up next. He was told to wait back in the lobby and was given a small warning, to never hesitate to let someone know if he was feeling unwell. "I have high hopes for you." He heard the Director finish.

* * *

Naruto made his way to the lobby and sat down on one of the benches, he sat quite a distance from some younger boy wearing a yellow knit cap over his brown hair. He had a black sleeveless shirt that showed his stomach and a yellow vest over that. He wore black and orange shorts that had a zipper on the bottom to attach an extra length of shorts. He had black and orange shoes and black finger-less gloves on his hands. His gray eyes looked young and despite the times, seemed to still have fun from time to time.

"Hey, want some gum?" The boy asked him as he searched his person, only to come up with nothing. "Oh, sorry. I guess I'm all out."

"It's fine. I'm not really a gum guy." Naruto declined. He allowed himself to slouch a little. His God Arc was in the storage area, he asked the mechanic: Licca Kusunoki, to give it a little orange design.

"I am Kota Fujiki." The now named Kota introduced himself. "So, you're a match too? That makes two of us. You're probably my age or a little older."

"Nineteen." Naruto answered plainly.

"Oh well, I'm still your senior by a nanosecond." Kota said as he turned to Naruto. "Nice to meet you!"

"Hn."

Naruto gave the standard Uchiha reply as he stood up to stretch. He didn't really care about all that crap. He saw an older woman walk up to them.

She had long and slightly-curly black hair. He took note of her black eyes and the beauty mark by her lip. She had a white formal shirt that showed off her cleavage and white slacks that exposed the upper side of her legs, through criss-crossing strings. She had black, heeled shoes and her bracelet was wrapped with yellow tape. Her hand had a clipboard as she stood in front of their sitting area.

"Stand up." She commanded.

"Huh?" Kota had a confused look o his face.

"She said to stand up, senpai." Naruto said the last part mockingly. The realization dawned on Kota's face as he stood up… a little too straight.

The woman seemed to be placated by that and began speaking. "I'm on a tight schedule, so I'll be keeping this short. My name is Tsubaki Amamiya, and I'm your advisor." Tsubaki said as she gave them a schedule after their check-up. It consisted of Basics in Physical Training, Combat Training and a Weaponry/Armor clinic. She gave a speech that they would be doing the protecting now that they are in the God Eaters.

"If you don't want to die over something stupid, then answer my every order with a 'yes'. Understood?" Tsubaki said.

"Yes, ma'am!" Kota answered.

"Hn."

Tsubaki ordered Naruto to go first and head to the laboratory by 3PM, to meet with Dr. Paylor Sakaki. Until then he has free reign to tour The Den. She gave a few more words, like give some respect to the members of the team. Once she left, Naruto made his way to the terminals and accessed the database. He needed information, though the database had little to give since he was still at an Entry-Level Security Access.

Right now he was walking along the white halls of the Den, lost in thought. He met several people earlier, one was a little girl called Erina der Vogelweid and she was looking for her father, who was a powerful supporter of Fenrir. He just told her to wait in the lobby, in case he came back. The other was a veteran named Gen Momota, the only survivor from the first batch of God Eaters, he offered to give him advice any time he needed. There was also Shun Ogawa who was complaining about the terrible reward and rations he got. He didn't spend much time talking to him though.

"Kya!"

Naruto felt himself bump into someone, snapping him out of his reverie. His eyes were immediately stuck to the bubble-gum pink hair.

"Owie…" The girl muttered.

Naruto held his hand out and helped the girl up. "My bad. I was kinda lost on the road of life." He said as he took in the girl's features.

She was fair-skinned and her bubble-gum pink hair was neatly combed and framed her face, which had blue eyes in a similar shade to his. She wore a green and black one-piece dress without sleeves that reached to her upper thighs, where he could see black leggings that reached just below the knee. She had white boots with brown straps that reached up halfway through her calves, leaving some skin exposed between the leggings. She had an elbow warmer on her right elbow and a black finger-less glove that reached below her left elbow.

"Oh! You're one of the rookies we were gonna get soon!" The girl exclaimed in surprise. "Are you lost?"

"Not really, just exploring." Naruto said. "Though, I do need to get to Dr. Sakaki's office for the medical check-up."

"Then you're in luck!" She began. "Dr. Sakaki's office is right at the end of the hall. He's a little eccentric, but he's a very kind man, so you'll be fine!"

"Thanks err…" Naruto trailed off.

"Kanon." She said. "Kanon Daiba. Nice to meet you."

"Naruto Uzumaki." He gave a nod to the girl as he left and went on his way. She was kinda cute, in Naruto's opinion and very cheerful too.

* * *

Naruto entered the Doctor's office and found two people there. One was the Director, Johannes von Schicksal. Naruto knew the man through the news whenever Fenrir had to make a big announcement.

The other was a bespectacled man with messy gray hair that wrapped around his head. His eyes seemed to be permanently closed, but he could tell the man was still looking at him. He wore a black duster over what looked like a plaid kimono and had white tabi socks and black and red geta sandals. He had several extra eye-glasses attached to a gold chain around his neck. He could only assume this is Dr. Sakaki

"Hmm… you got here 726 seconds later than I expected…" Sakaki mused. "Anyways, good to see you New-Type!" Naruto just nodded. If anything he was actually early, arriving at least 10 minutes before he had to. "I'm Paylor Sakaki and I'm in charge of Aragami Tecnology R&D." He introduced as he welcomed him to the team He asked the Director to finish his business first since he still needed to finish preparations.

Johannes just reminded him to separate business from private matters. The Director introduced himself and thanked Naruto for taking part in the aptitude test, and that he was expecting great things from him.

"He's a former techie too, you know." Sakaki remarked. "The New-Types medical check-ups interest you to no end. Right Johannes?"

"I decided to retire as a 'techie', because we have you." Johannes retorted. "Keep that in mind."

"Did you ever really retire though?" Sakaki joked. Johannes just turned away again as Sakaki began typing.

"Let me explain The Fenrir Corporations objectives once more…" Johannes began.

Though outside, Naruto appeared listening. On the inside he was thinking about other things. He already knew what the company does and he honestly can't even forget about it. This world was his home now, after all. He also knew about Aegis Island's purpose so he didn't bother. Though Dr. Sakaki seem to be piping in his awe a little too loudly

"Paylor." Johannes called out. "You're disrupting my lecture."

"Oh, sorry about that." Sakaki apologized sheepishly. "I was just so taken aback by these stats, I got carried away."

"At any rate." Johannes continued. "The future of humankind is at stake. So give it your best effort."

"You got it." Naruto replied plainly.

"All right." Johannes said as he turned to Sakaki. "I'm leaving it all to you, Paylor. Send me the data once you're done." He finished as he left. Sakaki just gave him a wave.

"I can't help but think there's some history between you two." Naruto mused.

"Hehehe, Johannes and I go way back." Sakaki replied. "Preparation are done so just lie down on that bed. You'll feel sleepy for a little while, but it's nothing to worry about." Sakaki assured him, as Naruto did as told. "When you wake up, you'll be in your own room. Just a little cat nap, so to speak. You'll get about 10,800 seconds, sweet dream!" he finished as Naruto began to feel drowsy and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

When Naruto woke up, he simply made his way out of his room. Shun was there, waiting outside near his door. Apparently, Tsubaki had Shun pick him up, but he dismissed the redhead boy and made his way back to the lobby. He met Kanon on the way and the two exchanged small talk until he arrived.

Tsubaki then had him and Kota, in separate training areas, perform some training on several practice models of Aragami, such as hitting weak spots. Naruto was really happy with Licca's choice in giving his God Arc some flair, at least now it wasn't entirely monochrome.

After training, Tsubaki told him to rest since starting tomorrow he'll begin taking on missions.

This time not as a ninja, but as a God Eater.

**Author's Notes**

There was one other God Eater Xover, but I can't remember where it was. It was one where they were all on the same world. If you don't know what this is, it's a more faster-paced and story-driven Monster Hunter.

I also purposely did not describe Shun, Gen and Erina since they'll be described later. Also Naruto is only part-Uchiha, so the 'Hn' and his Sharingan is probably the only thing Uchiha-like about this Naruto.

I'll be spelling it as 'God Eater' instead of 'Gods Eater', so if that offends you I'm sorry in advance.

It's highly unlikely that I'll have other Naruto Characters appear other than Kurama. Though Sasuke is a possibility, since I never really elaborated on the after part.

Naruto's equips:

Outfit Top: Medic Coat: Red (but with black shirt and orange tie from White. Does not have the med-pack on the lower back yet)

Outfit Bottom: Sniper Pants: Khaki (does not have the strapped bullet holder on the right leg yet)

Short Blade: Black-steel (from GE2 minus the wing-like extras. It has the wisp-like flame design Jecht-FFX has on his sword but in orange)

Assault Gun: Gatling gun (It's black in color as well with orange target reticle design in an x-shape near the base of the barrels)

Buckler Shield: Immunity Buckler (black, with an orange wispy spiral design on the center when the shield is fully deployed)

The God Arc and his clothes is supposed to resemble his Shippuden outfit somewhat. Naruto's Mangekyou is the Triple Swirl you can find online. He will use his ninja powers only when he is alone or on a solo mission. He also won't be changing equipment, instead he'll use the drops and materials to strengthen his own weapon.

This would probably be Naruto/Alisa (and maybe Kanon)

Review or something.


	2. Early Missions Part 1

**Missions with the First Unit Part 1**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

Naruto yawned a bit as he walked down the halls. Today was the start of real missions, and he was excited to start. He knew the danger was all too real. He never had to fight an Aragami before with any of his Ninja Techniques, he used the bare minimum needed only for an escape, and not a full-on fight. So he didn't really have a gauge of how his chakra matches up to the beasts, but he at least knew that it can hurt them. He walked over to the front desk, once he arrived in the lobby.

"Good morning, Hibari." Naruto greeted the red-head operator.

"Ah, good morning, Naruto." She greeted back.

Hibari Takeda was a younger girl, with orange-red hair, it wasn't tied in her usual style. Due to just coming in for her shift. She was fair-skinned and had brown eyes. She wore the standard operator's uniform, consisting of a short-sleeved white blouse, white business skirt and a black vest with a short red tie. She had black stockings on her legs and red heeled shoes.

"You're up early for being a new member." Hibari commented.

"A product of living a tough life." Naruto answered cryptically. It was still rather early and the only ones in the Den right now, were some workers and God Eaters who took a night-shift patrol of the walls.

"How so?" Hibari asked. Everyone in the world they were in had some baggage. She only knew from the initial database entry of Naruto, that he only came in two years ago and lived in the Outer Ghetto until Fenrir was able to match him with a God Arc.

"Oh, you know. Aragami here, a Psycho there." Naruto deflected. Hibari just nodded as she put her hair in her usual style.

Footsteps approached them, and Naruto turned to find Tsubaki in front of him. "Good, you're already awake. Today is the start of you taking on Field Duty." Tsubaki then had Hibari prepare several Mission slips for him. "You're first assignment would be slaying an Ogretail. Lindow will be accompanying you on this mission. Once you return finish up the rest in the catalog I've prepared."

"Sure thing." Naruto replied lazily.

Tsubaki nodded as she left. Naruto caught a glimpse of her clipboard and saw that Kota was also undertaking a similar set.

"Don't worry about Tsubaki." Hibari chimed in. "She's always been a Business-First type, so forgive her if she seems a little cold at times."

"Huh? Oh, it's no problem." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm kinda used to people like that. So, who's this Lindow guy?"

"Lindow is the current leader of the First Unit." Hibari answered as she worked. "You'll know him, when you see him."

"Hibari!"

The two turned and saw a young man running up to the front desk, waving as he called out Hibari's name. He had messy brown hair and matching brown eyes. He wore an orange shirt under a long-sleeved, two-tone red jacket that had a black backside and a white inside. He had a black leather belt holding up his white pants that had several, gray pouches and had red and black running shoes. One of the sleeves was slightly folded up, to accommodate the bulky Bias Factor bracelet.

"Hibari! Go out with me, Hibari!" The man began fawning over her, before taking note of Naruto. "…And who are you?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, Rookie." Naruto replied as he held his hand out for a shake. _"On paper that is."_

"Ah! The new guy, Shun was talking about!" The man said with realization. "I'm Tatsumi O'Mori, Leader of the Second Unit." He shook Naruto's hand and when he pulled away, seemed to size him up.

"You're not hitting on my Hibari, are you?" Tatsumi asked seriously.

"Um… no?" Naruto replied confusedly.

"Good! Since your outfit kinda looks like mine, I thought you were trying to imitate me to get Hibari!" Tatsumi elaborated before fawning all over Hibari again. Naruto just had to sweatdrop at the man's accusation.

"Hey Tatsumi!" A new voice called out. Naruto turned and saw one of his friends Kanon, walking at a sedate pace with another guy who was speed-walking towards them.

"Brendan! W-What's up?" Tatsumi asked nervously.

The man, Brendan bopped him on the head before chewing him out again. Naruto just tuned out what they were saying as he took in Brendan's appearance. Short silver hair and blue eyes, a little darker than his own. A simple white undershirt under a large blue jacket with many pockets and straps on the end of the long sleeves. He had a brown leather belt to hold up his black pants that had gray kneepads and were tucked into his brown boots.

"Naruto! You're up early!" Kanon exclaimed as Naruto snapped out of his analysis.

"Huh? Oh, Kanon. Good morning." Naruto greeted one of his first friends in the Den.

"So, you're the Rookie, huh?" Brendan seemed to have finished lashing out at Tatsumi, who was sulking in a corner with a raincloud over his head.

"Well, one of two." Naruto said.

"Heh, well I met the other one, too. Quite the talkative guy, huh?" Brendan joked.

"Sounds like Kota." Naruto agreed. Before introducing himself to the man with the same gesture he gave Tatsumi earlier. "Naruto Uzumaki, Nice to meet you."

"Brendan Bardell, likewise." Brendan gave a smile as he shook Naruto's hands. Once he let go, he turned his attention to Hibari to file a preliminary report, since Tatsumi was still sulking and was too busy flirting earlier to do it.

"So, Kanon." Naruto called the girl's attention. "You guys just came back from a mission?"

"Yup. It was a real toughie, too." Kanon began. "We had to take on a Vajra this time, and it kept moving away, so I had a lot of misfires."

Naruto just chuckled. He knew Kanon had trouble with her aim, but he was thankful they all came back in one piece. Tatsumi was at a higher rank, so he and his team often got missions against the larger Aragami.

"So, why are you up so early?" Kanon asked. Hibari leaned in a little, since she knew Naruto was already friends with Kanon, and would most likely tell her more.

"I just took an hour or so with extra training." Naruto answered. "Nothing too important. Plus I'm always an early riser."

Kanon nodded at that. "Well, I should get some rest, too." Kanon said as she stretched a little and gave a cute yawn. "See you later, Naruto."

"Yeah. You too." Naruto said as the three main members of the Second Unit headed to their rooms.

"Aren't you two close?" Another voice came in.

"Not really. We just met yesterday, but she is really friendly." Naruto said still looking in the direction Kanon went to.

"Heh, I can agree with that."

Naruto then turned to the speaker and saw a black haired man looking at him near the stairs. The man began walking towards him as Hibari called out to him.

"Oh, Lindow. The Director said if I saw you, to tell you to come see him."

"Okay. Don't tell him you saw me." Lindow waved off. "Hey there, Rookie."

"You know Kanon?" Naruto asked first.

"Huh? Oh yeah. She was one of the people I escorted when a part of the Outer Ghetto broke down." Lindow explained. "Anyways, the name's Lindow Amamiya."

"Like Tsubaki?"

"Yeah, she's my Big Sis." Lindow had a sheepish look on his face as he continued his introduction. "On paper, I'm your superior officer. But, uh… never mind all that boring stuff, okay?"

"Sure, I was never one for formalities anyway." Naruto returned.

"I know what you mean, it feels too stuffy, right?" Lindow said with a smile. "All, I'm asking is you become someone I know will have my back, okay?"

From the corner of Naruto's eye he saw another person approach. "Oh? Who's this a rookie?" A woman asked Lindow.

"Yeah, and I'm pounding him with all our severe rules right now, so take a hike, Sakuya." Lindow had a joking face as he said the 'severe rules' part.

"Yessir! Big boss, sir!" Sakuya remarked sarcastically and gave a small wave before leaving to talk with Hibari.

"So anyway, that's about it." Lindow finished. "I assume Sis gave you the details already?"

"Yeah, an Ogretail and then the rest of the catalog." Naruto answered.

"Then let's head out!" Lindow said as he made his way to the God Arc storage area, Naruto followed along. Once the two left Sakuya began talking to Hibari about their new teammate.

"So, what's your read on the new guy?" Sakuya asked Hibari.

"Well, he's generally nice to everybody so far. A little guarded, but then again everyone's like that at the start." Hibari said before continuing. "Plus, he looked like he had a good deal of experience with the Aragami before."

Sakuya nodded. "Anything else?"

"Not much, I'm afraid." Hibari answered. "Though maybe if you ask Kanon, she can shed more light on him."

"Kanon? Why her?" Sakuya asked confused.

"She's already friends with him, by the looks of it." Hibari said and Sakuya nodded again. "You might be able to talk to him later. Tsubaki assigned a mission with you as his back-up."

"Okay. Thanks." Sakuya gave Hibari a wave as she left to go bother Soma to trade rations.

* * *

Once they picked up their God Arcs they took the elevator to get to the helicopter that will drop them off in a safe-zone.

"A Short Blade, huh?" Lindow began. "We don't have many of those around. Most of the matches are either Gun users or Long Blade users."

"Really? Any others like me, so I can add them to the club?" Naruto joked.

Lindow just let out a hearty laugh. "Other than Tatsumi, I'm not very sure." Lindow calmed down a little before speaking again. "You don't seem too nervous."

"I'm no stranger to close contact with the Aragami, though I only knew the name about two years ago, back when I first arrived at the Far-East Branch's Outer Ghetto." Naruto explained. "And the specific names, shortly after I passed the Aptitude Test."

"You mean, you've been out there surviving on your own?" Lindow asked in surprise, which was shared by the pilot and co-pilot, though they kept their focus on flying the chopper.

"Yeah, there were a lot of close calls too." Naruto answered honestly. "It was especially brutal, if the weather was not favorable when I got spotted."

Lindow would have asked for more details, if the pilot didn't address them first. "We've arrived at the drop-off point, sir."

"Alright, let's go, Naruto." Lindow sighed. He couldn't really call this guy a rookie anymore.

Once they got off the chopper, the pilot informed them that they have been alotted exactly 30 minutes, before the chopper comes back and extracts them on the spot. Lindow just waved it off, since the 'small fry' Aragami, don't really take that long to kill.

"Boy, this place has seen better times, huh?" Lindow joked.

"_Yeah, no kidding."_ Naruto thought. As he took in the surrounding area.

"All right, you got 3 orders…" Lindow began. "Don't Die. If your number's up, get out. Lastly, hide. If you're lucky catch the enemy off guard and blast it." Lindow listed out with his fingers.

Naruto had a sweatdrop as Lindow corrected his miscount. "Bottom line is you have to survive. Just follow that order and everything else will be fine." It was an easy set of orders to follow, it was actually a little similar to his own, when he was out in the wilderness. "Our target is an Ogretail, pretty easy to beat. Just mind its tail."

The two leapt off the small cliff and began sneaking to the corner of the ruined cathedral. Lindow gave Naruto a signal that the target was in sight. Naruto looked over and saw the Ogretail just wandering about.

"Huh, so the biped's name is an Ogretail." Naruto mused.

"Biped?" Lindow asked curiously.

"Remember, I said I didn't know specific names until after I got the job here." Naruto took a breath. Lindow was behind him, so he won't be able to see. His eyes morphed as he took a rock and chucked it at the Ogretail. He deactivated the ability shortly after the rock hit.

The Aragami gave a growl as it saw the two God Eaters and charged. Naruto did the same and gave three fast strikes before leaping back. "Heh, nice moves you got there." Lindow commented as he saw the Ogretail fail to hit anything with a spin attack. Naruto charged in again and delivered another set of strikes, causing the Aragami to fall on its side. Naruto just finished it off with a slash to the head.

"Alright, now that it's dead, turn your God Arc into Devour mode." Lindow ordered. Naruto did so, and a large pair of jaws came out which he aimed at the dead Aragami. Naruto's God Arc began to eat and once it was done it receded into its weapon form. "Devouring a dead Aragami gives you its materials, according to your file, your God Arc is highly customizable. So gaining materials will let you create new parts."

"Shouldn't we head back?" Naruto asked as he felt something watching him.

"Yeah, I'll radio it in. Sit tight." Lindow said as he leaned his God Arc on a wall and lit a cigarette before taking out the radio.

Naruto just took this time to look around for the watching presence. It felt like an Aragami, yet it was not attacking them. They were in a vulnerable state and yet the Aragami he is sensing isn't making a move.

"Something on your mind?" Lindow asked as he continued to smoke.

"Hmm?" Naruto turned as he snapped out of his reverie. "It's nothing. Just a little worried, how I'm gonna finish Tsubaki's assigned workload." Naruto joked.

"Hehe, Sis is kinda strict to everyone." Lindow agreed. "Doesn't matter if you're old or new and young. Comes with being the adviser for Three Units, you know?"

"I could only imagine." Naruto said.

"Nah, don't be like that! When you get to her age, then it'll be your turn to whip some shape into some youngsters." Lindow said with a fake old man voice at the last part.

"Heh, then you'd best be prepared to do the same, old man." Naruto retorted. Both men burst out laughing, and calmed themselves down when they heard the helicopter approach. The two just exchanged talked a little as they made their way back to the Den.

* * *

"So, you got a mission with Lindow, huh?" A voice piped in as Naruto arrived at the lobby. He had to go through a lecture with Dr. Sakaki and Kota.

"Yeah. May I ask who you are?" Naruto asked the girl with the eye-patch.

She had white hair and her single visible eye was violet in color. She had a short orange-peach scarf around her neck. A purple shirt that showed her rather flat chest was under a purple and black jacket with gold buttons. She had a coffee brown pouch attached to her belt, which was holding up her skinny black pants which also had several purple straps near the knee. She wore knee-high black boots with purple laces. Her eye-patch was also purple in color and her sleeves were folded on both her arms.

"Gina Dickinson of the Third Unit." She said plainly.

"Ah, so you're teammates with Shun then!" Naruto said in realization.

"Sadly, yes. He's kind of hot-blooded for my tastes." Gina said as she elaborated. "He charges in too fast before I could fire my gun, and shooting a moving target may be fun and all. But nothing beats the surprise factor on hitting an unaware Aragami." She finished with an ecstatic smile on her face.

"Um… sure. So, uh, Lindow?" Naruto began unsurely. He opted to move back to the original topic of discussion they had.

"Ah, yes. Lindow." Gina began. "Rookies are often given to his unit first, so just stick with him and you'll survive." She finished before leaving. Naruto just shrugged and made his way to Dr. Sakaki's office.

Dr. Sakaki seemed to have a happy look, when Naruto arrived. He couldn't really tell since the man's face seemed to be in an ever-present fox-face grin. Kota was already sitting on one of the benches, he looked bored.

"Ah, you're finally here!" Sakaki exclaimed, grabbing Kota's attention.

Naruto just gave a lazy wave, earlier Kanon arrived after he met Gina and explained that Gina wasn't really the talkative type. That was the reason he was a little late. "Sorry, a black cat crossed my way, so I had to circle around and take the Den's rear entrance to get here."

"I wasn't aware we had cats around the nearby area." Sakaki mused knowingly.

"There's a rear entrance to the Den?" Kota chimed in surprise.

"Of course there is." Naruto answered. "What kind of building doesn't have another entrance? That would be a safety hazard you know."

"Anyways, now that you're here, we can begin the lecture." Sakaki began. As he brought out a screen to add some visual aids. Kota seemed to be bored already and looked like he was about to nod off. "All right, let's jump right in. What do you think an Aragami is?"

Naruto just looked on, it was important to know about this stuff. Knowledge is power, after all.

"The nemesis of humankind! An absolute predator! Destroyer of the world! Well that about sums it up." Sakaki declared. "Now then, these aren't misconceptions. Rather, you could say one simply has his eyes fixed on the phenomena before him."

Dr. Sakaki paused a little bit, before he asked a question. "Have you ever wondered how and why the Aragami came into being?"

"According to the database, it said they came out of nowhere." Naruto referenced.

"That's right, and since then their numbers exploded." Sakaki continued. "Yep. As if they were ripping through every evolutional process."

Naruto heard Kota yawn and stretch his arms. "Hey listen, does this lecture even have a point?" Kota asked. "I mean, what do we care about the reason for the Aragami existence?"

"You sure about that?" Sakaki said from next to Kota, startling the boy. "An Aragami has no brain, neither does it have a heart nor even spinal fluid. We frail humans will perish, if we get blasted in the head or the chest… but that's not enough to take down an Aragami."

Naruto began to listen intently at the enrapturing lecture. Sakaki said that an Aragami is a cluster of Oracle Cells, each of which is a single cell organism that thinks and preys on others. Making Aragami, a colony of hundreds of thousands of life forms, and that the only way to hurt them was through the God Arc, which was a bio-weapon embedded with Oracle Cells.

But this was not without risk, since rogue cell colonies can fuse again and form a new entity. The only way to permanently kill an Aragami was through extracting the core, which was the cell colony that functions as a command center.

Sakaki then mentioned that along the way people likened them to Gods from various mythologies and thus was the name Aragami born. He gave them homework to research on and dismissed them.

* * *

Naruto headed downstairs since he still had to finish Tsubaki's assigned missions, he took one to take down a Zygote Aragami on his own, he tried if his ninja abilities worked and to his surprise, it did. It was only some damage, not enough to permanently kill it, so he filed away that even a low-power Rasengan was good enough to take down the smaller Aragami temporarily.

He also took another mission involving four Ogretails that were in the grasslands. Tsubaki advised him not to engage the wandering Vajra and focus on the mission targets only. Naruto filed away that the Vajra was one of the large tiger-like Aragami he ran into often, when he was out in the wild.

Once the mission was done he only had another before he was finished for his first day.

**Author's Notes**

I introduced many of the sub-characters in this chapter.

Yes, I know it's a lot of missions on a first day, but seriously, if you take in how easy it is to kill the mook-level Aragami, it should be justified.

I also had a little bit of info on what Naruto has been doing during the time he was alone. It's not all of it though.

Hakuryukou79 asked: how did Naruto open the seal to get Kyubi's chakra?

He was in a similar situation to the one with Pein, he needed more power since he doesn't have a God Arc, and Kyubi began tempting him to open the seal. Since Minato was the creator of the seal, he had a copy of the key and helped both Naruto and Kushina, who showed up later after opening/chakra tug-of-war, take the Kyubi's chakra for Naruto.

Naruto, at the time, only had his pre-Final Valley skills, which were slightly improved, and what he knew of the Sharingan, he had the Mangekyou at that point, but he didn't know how to use the three jutsu it has, properly.

I also said I might expand on that in a later chapter. Hopefully this helps clear out the confusion.

Review or something.


	3. Early Missions Part 2

**Missions with the First Unit Part 2**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1**

Naruto made his way down to the lobby using the elevator. Barring himself and the elevator music, it was quiet the whole way. His next and last mission for the day was with the woman from earlier, Lindow's teammate Sakuya.

The elevator opened up at the Den's lobby, and Naruto stepped out. He saw the janitor walk by with a sour face and mumbling about some rich kid who did not know how to use a toilet. He ignored the janitor's tirade as he walked up to Hibari.

"Hibari, the last mission please." Naruto requested.

"How was the lecture?" Hibari inquired.

"Informative mostly. A much needed history lesson."

"If you put it like that, it sounds like you were living in a cave or something." Hibari joked.

Naruto chuckled. He did have to live in a cave at one point, but mostly in treetops. "So, where's Miss Sakuya?"

Hibari answered as she continued her work. "She said, she would meet you at the mission site." Naruto nodded as he made his way to pick up his God Arc, he had some reinforcement done on it by using most of the materials he found on the previous three missions he has done.

* * *

Once the chopper touched down at the Wailing Plains, he made his way over to Sakuya, who had her God Arc leaning on her shoulder.

"You're the new recruit I met earlier." Sakuya began. "We haven't been formally introduced, I'm Sakuya Tachibana, nice to meet you."

"Naruto Uzumaki." He answered plainly.

"Hmm… Are you from around the Far-East?" Sakuya asked. Seeing his questioning look, she elaborated. "Both of your names sound like they originated from here."

"I guess…" Naruto muttered.

"Well, anyway. It doesn't look like you're nervous, so I'll start the briefing." Sakuya continued as they ignored the earlier topic. "For this mission, you'll take point and I'll be your backup. Always stay in range of your backup, this is the standard operating procedure when you have a long-distance user as your only partner. Understand?"

"Gotcha." Naruto said as they heard some small roars. "Looks like we'll have to hurry this up, huh senpai?"

"Yeah, we received reports that a Vajra herd was in a nearby area, so we have to be careful." Sakuya explained as the two leapt down to the area proper.

"There they are…" Naruto said as he saw some iron-maiden looking creatures standing in place. He remembered those as the ones who seem to act like guards to an area. It was good that there was quite a distance between the two, they can take one down without having to deal with another.

"Cocoon Maidens. If you get in close they would try to impale you with sharp needles inside their body." Sakuya informed him. He only knew they had an ability to shoot beams of energy. Naruto switched his God Arc to gun mode, much to Sakuya's surprise.

"An opening salvo should do well." Naruto said as he took aim and shot a few bullets. He made planned custom bullets and the maintenance team created them. It was a simple bullet recipe that involved explode-on-contact shots. Unlike the mortar-style bullets, these were not severely impaired by gravity.

He charged in with Sakuya covering him with her own laser shots. He gave a few finishing slashes to the Aragami, before waiting for Sakuya to catch up. They charged the last one, and finished it with a shift-combo and blasting it with another salvo of bullets from both God Arcs. After extracting their cores, the two waited for the chopper to come pick them up.

"Wow, you New-Types are something else." Sakuya commented. Naruto shrugged, she didn't know he did a little underhanded moves on the Aragami earlier. Though he suddenly stood up on alarm as he felt a presence watching him again. He looked around and only saw a faint trace of a yellow-looking appendage. "What's got you so spooked?"

"It's nothing…" Naruto deflected. "So, how do you know Lindow? It's pretty obvious, it's not just through work."

"Well, the three of us: Tsubaki, Lindow and I grew up together." Sakuya answered. She put on a fond smile at her memories. Naruto just nodded, he asked a few more questions about his co-worker. He found out she was once an operator like Hibari was right now, she explained that she was waiting for them to match her with a God Arc and that the same was being done for Hibari.

The chopper arrived and Naruto learned a little more about Sakuya, and by extension Lindow and Tsubaki as well, as they headed home. Naruto broke off from Sakuya a little later, she had to deal with Lindow, who was waiting to drink her beer rations again.

* * *

It was an hour or so that passed as Naruto was planning out some more bullet recipes at the nearby terminal. Since he finished Tsubaki's given workload early, he still had enough free time to do whatever he needed for the day. He was about to finish up, if his advisor didn't call for his attention.

"Uzumaki, I see you are already done with the catalog." Tsubaki stated as Naruto looked up at her. "We received a request for back-up, and since you're the only one in the Den left that is not on mission or on the night-watch, we'll be sending you."

"Um… sure thing." Naruto said as he closed the terminal.

"Good. Your mission is to meet up with Soma and Eric at the Sunken Grid, an old factory that is nearly submerged underwater. Assist them in any way you can." Tsubaki finished as Naruto nodded. He picked up his God Arc on the way to the helicopter, he had a bad feeling in his gut right now.

Once he was dropped off, he immediately scanned his surroundings. He found nothing out of the ordinary, other than the presence watching him again. It didn't seem like it follows him to the Den, so he sighed in relief that the base would still be safe. He activated the Sharingan and looked around again, he saw two boys down the road and focused more power to his eyes. He saw a possible and gruesome future as he scanned the red-clad one.

He dropped down as he deactivated his eyes. While it would be easier to prevent the approaching one's death if he had them active, he couldn't afford being questioned on his powers. As predicted the one with the gun and red hair approached him with a wave.

"Are you the rookie, we've been hearing so much about?" The redhead said. Naruto took note that the hooded one seemed to tense a little. "I'm Eric. Eric der Vogelweid."

"Are you related to Erina, then?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, my magnificent little sister, Erina!" Eric confirmed as the other boy, Soma started looking around. "I suggest you take your cues from me, and learn to battle gloriously for humankind!"

"Eric, above you!" Soma shouted as Naruto kicked Eric on the chest, causing him to crash into Soma. He brought his God Arc in a swing, using the momentum of both the falling Ogretail and his God Arc to bisect it. The Aragami that would have eaten Eric, had Naruto not intervened, lay dead on the ground as Naruto performed a Core Extraction.

"Get off me!" Soma yelled as the two boys untangled themselves. Naruto felt the watching presence disappear again, as Soma walked over and pointed his God Arc in his direction.

"I'm here as your back-up, what's the mission about." Naruto said in a no-nonsense tone.

"Tch, two Cocoon Maidens and two Ogretails, since you already killed one." Soma said, still not lowering his weapon. "If you don't want to die, then just stay the hell out of my way." He finished as he lowered his God Arc.

Naruto held his hand out to the disoriented Eric and helped him up. "Alright, Eric. What type of bullets do you have?" Naruto asked the shaking boy.

"Huh? Oh, exploding shots…" He replied as he tried to calm his nerves.

"Good, you will focus on the Cocoon Maidens, while Soma and I deal with the Ogretails." Naruto commanded. "We'll keep them away from you, while you shoot down the others and prevent them from shooting us. Understand?"

He got a shaky nod and a grunt in return. The three of them began creeping the area, with Naruto taking point, he was also taking in his surroundings and getting a lay of the land. He saw the two Cocoon Maidens perched atop an elevated terrain. He signalled for Eric to start shooting, and Soma to charge the lone Ogretail at the bottom.

He assisted Eric in shooting, while keeping an eye on Soma's back. He saw the other Ogretail charging in to join the battle and switched back to sword mode. Giving a few quick slashes and making sure it stays away from Eric, he saw Soma finish up his opponent and assisted Eric in taking down the last Cocoon Maiden.

He gave a two-handed slash to the Ogretail to finally finish it off. He performed core extractions on all the Aragami before calling in for the chopper. Soma stayed quiet during the whole trip back and Eric was still shaking at the near-death experience he had.

Once they arrived he filed a report on the mission and headed straight to bed. He was tired from using his eyes a little too much, and the fact a comrade almost died on his watch. While he knew it was possible, he didn't want anyone dying while he was around.

* * *

When the next day came, Naruto made his way back to the lobby. He found Tsubaki there waiting to give him his duties for the day. He walked up to her as he drank some coffee.

"Yo." Naruto waved lazily.

"You have a good work ethic, Uzumaki." Tsubaki complimented. Naruto just waved it off, since he was still rather tired. "You have only one mission for today. You and Fujiki will be hunting down a Kongou stalking the old temple area. You're in charge of this mission and can deploy any time after he wakes up, but it is recommended you do it during the daylight, since snowstorms are frequent at night. That is all."

Naruto gave a nod as Tsubaki left. He made his way to the terminal and read up on the Kongou. It was the large monkey-like Aragami that had great hearing capabilities. He sent a request to R&D for a silencer attachment for Kota's God Arc.

"Eric signed-in a temporary leave of absence." Hibari told Naruto, who was waiting by her area.

"I see." He couldn't blame the guy for wanting to spend some time away from work. He was nearly eaten by the Aragami because of his carelessness. "For now, he should spend some time with his sister."

"Thank you." Hibari said.

"For what?"

"For saving him." Hibari elaborated. "It's just… whenever any one of us doesn't come home, it brings everyone's spirits down, you know?"

Naruto simply nodded. He understood that these people grew into a tight-knit group over time. And that losing one of their own, would definitely bring morale down. He saw Soma walk up to the counter and decided to strike up some conversation.

"Hey, Soma. Did you hear about Eric?" Naruto started.

"…Not my problem." Soma said plainly. "If he's too weak to keep his wits about him, then he shouldn't bother reporting in for duty again." He took the mission catalog and scanned any for a solo mission.

"Come on, aren't you at least a bit worried?" Naruto questioned. "You're friends, aren't you?"

"…Whatever." Soma took a mission and got it signed off. He left immediately after, not bothering to spare a second glance at anybody.

Naruto just sighed as he watched Soma go. He saw some resemblance between him and Sasuke, and he couldn't help but try to make him open up more.

"Nice work on keeping a teammate alive, while working with the Grim Reaper." Naruto heard next to him, as the speaker's arm slung itself on his shoulder. He turned and saw it was from one of the first few people he met in the Den, Shun Ogawa.

Shun was a spiky, red-haired boy with dark brown eyes. He wore a black cap on his head, tilted sideways. Blue and purple clothing that looked like overalls reaching to slightly below his knees, where it was closed with tan straps. Over that he had a green hoodie that had cross-shaped clasps and straps on his sleeves' wrists. He had slip-on shoes, colored in greens, purples and blacks.

"Grim Reaper?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah." Shun began. "Rumors say, partner missions with Soma often have a tendency from going bad to worse." The boy explained, Naruto knew better. But he did get a strange feeling around Soma. "That's why he takes missions alone, or with a full 4-man team."

"Well, if he stops keeping his distance…" Naruto muttered.

"So, what's on your plate today?" Shun asked. Naruto told him that he had a mission with Kota to hunt down a Kongou. "And what's the pay?"

"Just a few credits. Not much."

"Heh, well if you ever get one with a good amount, hit me up or Karel." Shun said with a grin. "Karel likes missions where he gets a big score. I like ones with strong enemies, test my limits you know?"

"You shouldn't talk about someone behind their back, Shun." A new voice came in as its owner sat down on the table.

He was a very thin man, with pale-blonde hair and reddish-brown eyes. He wore a salmon-pink button-up shirt and a black necktie around his neck instead of on the shirts' collar. He wore tattered blue jeans and black boots that reached up to below his knee.

"You're Karel, I presume?" Naruto inquired, getting a nod from the lanky man.

"And you're the hotshot rookie the Third Unit kept hearing about from Shun." Karel pointed out as he smacked Shun's cap off. "Though this idiot did get one thing right. Call me up if you have a high-pay mission. With my skills, I can help you find some special items that could sell for a lot."

"You didn't have to smack me on the head you know!" Shun whined as he and Karel began bickering. Naruto just waited patiently for his partner to show up.

"There you are, Naruto!"

He turned and saw Lindow waving him over. He stood up and bid Shun and Karel farewell, he saw Gina walk past him with an annoyed expression. The only thing he heard was a resounding 'smack!' sound.

"What's up Lindow?" Naruto asked the man as he sat down.

"How you holdin' up?" Lindow asked seriously. Naruto gave him a look that told him to elaborate. "I mean, one of your teammates was nearly killed…" He trailed off.

"I'm fine." Naruto replied simply. "Lindow, can you tell me anything about Soma?"

"Well, it's not really my place to say…" Lindow began, rubbing the back of his head. "He's a nice guy deep inside, just a little too much of a loner sometimes. I have been trying to get him to open up a little, but you know how he is…"

Naruto listened as Lindow continued talking. He talked about how he and Kota should get along well, since they were 'classmates', as he put it. A few minutes later, said 'classmate' arrived. After getting his mission parameters from Tsubaki, Kota walked over while Lindow excused himself.

"So, it's the two of us then? I'm glad we both survived this long." Kota began. "My mom and sister would be devastated if something happened to me…" Naruto couldn't help but feel like a weight just dropped on his shoulders at Kota's statement.

"By the way, you know Sakuya, don't you?" Kota replied as the younger boy looked around. "Are you two close?"

"We've only been here for a few days…" Naruto muttered. Kota then began to liken Sakuya to an Amazon Warrior, he then issued a challenge on who can take out the most enemies on the mission.

* * *

The two headed to the God Arc storage area, with Naruto explaining what the silencer is for, as they made their way to the helicopter.

"A Kongou has increased hearing. A silencer will lessen the noise your God Arc makes when you shoot." Naruto explained. "There are three Ogretails that need to be taken care of before the Kongou shows up. We'll be taking those on together."

After arriving, the two stalked around for the three Ogretails. Thankfully, their initial targets were separate from each other, so they were able to take them down without any problems.

"So what do we do now?" Kota asked. The silencer was doing well for his God Arc so far.

"We wait." Naruto said as he began looking around. "Kota, I want you to go and find several vantage points. Once the Kongou arrives, I want you to snipe it from a distance and switch to a different vantage point after emptying your cartridge and reloading. When the silencer breaks, I want you to return to me, Understand?"

Kota nodded. He knew better than to question the chain of command. The two waited for a minute or so before hearing a howl, signalling the Kongou's arrival to the area. Naruto moved to the corner as he saw the large monkey-like Aragami. It was brown in color with a red-colored mask as its face and four pipe-looking organs on its back.

He signalled Kota to empty his clip, while doing the same with his own. Unlike Old-Type God Eaters, New-Types could simply attack the Aragami and recycle power to the used shot, in a way it was 'reloading' the ammunition. Once his clip was empty, he charged in.

He delivered a series of slashes before stepping back as the Kongou attempted to flatten him by slamming its body on the ground. The attack was a double-edged sword for the beast as it was disoriented from its own attack. Naruto took this time to deliver another set of slashes, He made sure to add extra force as he hit the pipes on its back.

Kota kept firing from his vantage point as he watched his partner hack away at the beast. He saw the pipe organs break and tail being partially cut off. He heard a large cracking sound as he saw the silencer break. Sparing no time, he made his way back to his partner as the Kongou ran off to feed.

"Alright, this time I want you to shoot it as much as you can in the face." Naruto issued a new set of orders. "I'll keep it busy, while you do your job." The two followed the monkey to the temple's ruins.

They saw that it was too busy looking for something to eat, so Naruto activated Devour mode and took a bite out of the beast. He felt a power surge as the irate monkey roared in anger. He dealt a swift strike on the beast's middle section and saw the Oracle Cells binding it struggling to come together again.

Kota began firing his shots again as Naruto kept the beast occupied by dealing quick slashes. Naruto then opted to stab the monkey in the face, causing it to stagger back in pain as its mask broke. He continued his assault on the downed beast, switching to the Gun mode and barraging it with shots together with Kota's own.

They saw the Aragami stopped moving and wasted no time in performing a Core Extraction. Naruto radioed in the mission's success, making the helicopter come and pick them up.

* * *

"That was so awesome!" Kota cheered as they walked back to the Den's lobby. "With my gun and your blade, we're unstoppable! If we keep this up, Sakuya is sure to notice me!"

"_Maybe if she wasn't already interested in Lindow…"_ Naruto thought. He simply kept his smile on as he listened to Kota's talking. They approached the front desk, where Naruto would file his report. Kota left saying he was going to watch a show called 'Bugarally' in his room.

"I see you've done your mission well, Uzumaki." Tsubaki complimented as she walked by. "You're free for the rest of the day."

Naruto nodded as Tsubaki left. "So, Hibari. Anything happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Hibari answered.

"Right, so that means Tatsumi was embarrassing you again." Naruto said with a knowing smirk. The operator girl began blushing as she recounted the many times Tatsumi kept putting her on the spot. He left after her shift was done, to go back to his room and rest for the night. He looked to his initial schedule and found he had another lesson with Dr. Sakaki in the morning.

He took in a deep breath as he lied down on his bed and let sleep overtake him.

**Author's Notes**

Short chapter to finish off the early game stuff.

I kept Eric alive, because I felt he was only killed so they could show that the world they are in, is serious business. Seriously, no one would leap back and just watch as they see a comrade get eaten in front of them, the least someone could have done in that situation was kill the damn thing.

I wanted Naruto's Sharingan to have a special ability unique to itself like Kamui, Kotoamatsukami, Sword of Totsuka, Yata Mirror, etc. He can see a few minutes into possible futures that does not have him getting involved directly in that person or object. Letting him change its destiny if he interferes.

This is not the same as the Sharingan's innate prediction ability in battle. He can't use this in battle if the Aragami spots him before he can focus. Once he is spotted, he will be part of the Aragami's future and his future sight will clouded and unusable. Simply put, he can't see his own future.

I really hope this makes sense though.

On to other matters, the Aragami fight here was a little hard to write. My options on writing it are either A) they have ton of HP and constantly hacking away at it will kill it or B) a few precision strikes would be enough to kill it. I don't really know what to do on that, but maybe I could try reading some Vanilla GE fics or the manga for an idea. But this would mean this fic won't be updated until quite a while.

I'll be working on the RWBY fic after this, as well as the others or maybe a new one… decisions, decisions…


End file.
